Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, it was completed in 1993 at a cost of $123 million. Arrowhead Water paid $15 million for the naming rights over 10 years in October 1993.[5] In the short period of time between the enfranchisement of the Mighty Ducks and the naming rights deal with Arrowhead, Disney referred to the Arena as the Pond of Anaheim.[6] In October 2006, Honda paid $60 million for the naming rights for over 15 years.[7] The Honda Center is often referred to by the locals as the "Ponda Center" or "Ponda" paying homage to its beloved old name The Pond.

The Arena was also used for taping 4th and Loud which is a reality show documentary that is about the LA KISS which airs on AMC beginning on August 12, 2014. The show was taped at the Honda Center only during LA KISS Home Games or other events.

Honda Center in its basketball configuration before an NCAA basketball game.

The arena opened on June 19, 1993, with a Barry Manilow concert as its first event. Since then, it has been host to a number of events, such as the 2003 and 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. On June 6, 2007, the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Ottawa Senators, 6–2, in game five of the Final at Honda Center to clinch the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship. The Ducks have never lost a Finals game played at the arena.[8]

The arena seats up 17,174 for its primary tenant, the Ducks. It takes only five hours to convert Honda Center from a sporting arena to an 8,400-seat amphitheater. There are 84 luxury suites in the building, which has hosted 17.5 million people, as of 2003. In 2005, the arena became the first in the U.S. to have two full levels of 360-degree ribbon displays installed. Daktronics out of Brookings, South Dakota designed, manufactured and installed the 1,800 feet (550 m) of full-color LED technology. Outside the venue, the marquee was upgraded with two large video displays measuring 8 feet (2.4 m) high by 21 feet (6.4 m), and a new marquee was built with more LED video displays.[9]

Broadcom chairman and billionaire, Henry Samueli, owns the company that operates the arena, Anaheim Arena Management, LLC, and the arena's primary tenant, the Ducks, giving him great flexibility in scheduling events and recruiting new tenants. Samueli hopes to bring an NBA franchise to the arena, and the Sacramento Kings expressed an interest in the past to relocate to Anaheim from their current stadium, Sleep Train Arena (formerly ARCO Arena).[10] On March 3, 2011 a lawyer representing the Maloof brothers, owners of the Kings, filed applications to trademark possible names for a new basketball team at the Honda Center, including the Anaheim Royals, Los Angeles Royals, Orange County Royals, and Anaheim Royals of Southern California.[11] The Maloof brothers had until May 2, 2011 to file paperwork officially requesting a relocation to the Honda Center, but the brothers decided to keep the team in Sacramento for the 2011–12 season.[12] On March 7, 2012, the city of Sacramento, the NBA, and the Kings organization initially reached an agreement on a $391 million arena deal which would have kept the Kings in Sacramento;[13] however, one month later, the Maloof family backed out of the agreement, reviving rumors regarding potential relocation.[14] The later purchase of the Kings by Vivek Ranadivé, along with a firm deal to build a new Sacramento arena has now made a move by the Kings to Anaheim unlikely.

U2 performed at the stadium five times: the first, the second and the third were on April 23, 24 and 26, 2001 during their Elevation Tour, in front of a total crowd of 49,377 people. The fourth and the fifth were on April 1 and 2, 2005 during their Vertigo Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 33,535 people.

Depeche Mode performed at the stadium six times: the first and the second were on December 20 and 22, 1998 during their Singles Tour. The third and the fourth were on August 18 and 19, 2001 during their Exciter Tour. The fifth one was on November 23, 2005 during their Touring the Angel. The sixth one was on August 19, 2009 during their Tour of the Universe, in front of a crowd of 12,430 people. The 2009 show was recorded for the group's live albums project Recording the Universe.

The arena itself (called only The Pond for legal reasons) was featured in the Mighty Ducks animated series, as the home base for the Ducks, and their vehicles, including the Aerowing spaceship, as well as their super-computer, Drake One, are housed under the arena. When the Aerowing is launched the floor splits allowing the platform with the ship to rotate up and launch, and it flies out of the dome's retracted roof.

^In the 1993–94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim media guide, Disney and the Ducks organization referred to the arena as the "Pond of Anaheim." This was prior to the naming rights deal with Arrowhead Water. ASIN: B001EBD3BM